One Headlight
by Bob8644
Summary: It's Clank's birthday. A time of celebration and goodwill...if Ratchet was there, of course. When tragedy strikes on the poor robot's special day, Elaris comes over to check on him and help him out with his troubles. Slight songfic/Claris oneshot.


_A cold and frosty morning there's not a lot to say_

 _About the things caught in my mind_

" Ratchet, the captain's been waiting hours for you….Ratchet? "

At 7 in the morning, Elaris constantly knocked on the door waiting for Ratchet to come out. He was just about to start his shift, and Quark was on a very tight schedule due to recent invasions, around 3 AM at least. Elaris was getting extremely worried about Ratchet and Clank's condition, so she had dropped off at their garage in her hovercraft to see what was up. It was particularily freezing today, so she'd slapped on a leather jacket and some boots at the last minute.

" Ratchet?! Clank?! Do you two really want to freeze to death or no? "

Then, the door slowly opened up. However, when it fully opened, no one seemed to be there. Elaris carefully tip-toed into the entrance. The garage looked extremely dusty and scruffed up; anyone who would've stepped in would've thought it was abandoned. Where was everyone? Where was Grim? Where was Ratchet? Where was-

" ...Clank? "

As she slowly shut the door, that's when she found the poor little robot shivering behind it, his eyes narrow and his body shivering.

" Oh, Clank…. " muttered Elaris as she scooped him up in his arms and carried him to the couch.

 _Up the stairs to her apartment_

 _She is balled up on the couch_

" What's bothering you, little guy? Don't you realize what a special day this is? "

Clank ended up staring confusingly at Elaris' comment. Just what kind of special day was she speaking about?

" E...Elaris, I-I am not aware o-of the day which you proclaim….s...spe… " She patted him on the head a few times to calm him down. " ….special. I-is there a day of birth which managed to pass by without me noticing? "

" Cla….Clank, how can you not know what day it is? It's _your_ birthday, little guy! Ratchet told me! " Elaris proclaimed. " Hey, speaking of which, where's he been? "

And that was when Clank froze in his place. He slowly pointed one digit to a newspaper on the coffee table. She took a quick glance and gasped so hard, dust blew straight off the paper.

 _So long ago, I don't remember when_

 _That's when they say I lost my only friend_

Ratchet was dead. Killed in a reckless hovercraft accident.

 _Well they said she died easy of a broken heart disease_

 _As I listened through the cemetery trees_

Elaris covered her mouth with her hand as Clank began to shiver even harder at the thought that this tragedy even occured. What was she supposed to say to that? What could she say that could calm the poor bot down now that his best friend was dead, on his birthday no less? She remained speechless as so many thoughts went through her head.

She then picked up the papers and scrolled through them. Ratchet had landed in a fatal accident when trying to swerve to a nearby mall. The two crafts collided as both drivers were fatally wounded from shrapnel. It was a basic description of the accident. One particular paragraph managed to catch her interest.

 _When searching through the wreckage, the rangers found a series of postcards and drawings. Some had signings on it reading " Happy Birthday, Clank ", perhaps alluding to the sidekick of our now fallen hero. Inspectors also managed to salvage a large bag of electronics, including video games, CDs, and even an entire game console. "_

That was what drove the final nail in her heart. To die on Clank's birthday was one thing. And to die while aiming to give your friend the best time of their LIFE on their birthday...was just absolutely unthinkable. Elaris slowly put down the newspaper as the tears began swelling in her eyes.

Clank fell off the couch from all the shaking that was taking place inside his system. There was no way he could come back from this dynamic blast of trauma.

 _She knows she's just a little misunderstood_

 _She has trouble acting normal when she's nervous_

Elaris closed her eyes and picked up Clank by his hand, gently laying him in her lap. She thought extremely hard of what to say. But she knew that her friends needed her attention first and foremost. Thank goodness the two had never given away their address or revealed their home, or else paparazzi would line up like sheep to see what's going on between the three.

She carefully stood up with Clank in her arms as she stepped back out through the door and walked to her hovercraft.

" Why don't I take you to my place? Do you want to discuss everything there? " she asked the little robot. He slowly nodded, leaving out a small whimper-ish " mm hmm " afterwards.

Elaris smiled as she climbed in and started up her craft. She set Clank in the passenger's seat as she looked in his direction. " Do you mind if I turn on the radio for a bit…? " Clank nodded as she started it up.

 _Tell me do you think it'd be all right_

 _If I could just crash here tonight_

 _You can see I'm in no shape for driving_

 _And anyway I've got no place to go_

" Aw, I love this song… " said Elaris as she turned it up and hummed along. Clank sighed and carefully listened to the lyrics.

 _Tomorrow we can drive around this town_

 _And let the cops chase us around_

 _The past is gone but something might be found_

 _To take its place... Hey jealousy_

Clank smiled as he wiped his dry eyes. " T-this song...reminds me of you and me, Elaris...b-but I do not believe...w-we could let the cops….er….c-chase us...around… "

Elaris giggled at the comment. Even when he was all tuckered out, Clank still managed to be as adorable and quirky as he could be. It was true, it did somewhat remind them of each other. There was a strange sense of companionship and friendliness in the song, especially in the second to last line before the chorus...but why? Elaris and Clank both observed and thought about that specific lyric for quite a while.

After a good 30 minutes, they finally arrived at her home. It was located in a series of apartments on the corner of a street. Elaris carefully held Clank up as they both walked up to her apartment (or rather, just Elaris).

Elaris' apartment was so perfectly organized with books and supplies in all of these different, unique shelves lined across the walls. It was a complete contrasts from the office where the two did their Ranger business, where it was all cluttered and piled with papers and tools. It was quite the welcome surprise for Clank.

Elaris sat Clank down at a dining room table as she went to a cabinet and pulled out a small can of oil. She then sat herself and the little robot down on the couch carefully as she cradled him, opening the can.

Clank whimpered and closed his eyes as Elaris slowly fed him the oil. The robot didn't flinch for just a second. " There, there, you poor thing...shh….it's okay...it's alright, little buddy… "

Clank smiled as he slowly felt himself slipping away from consciousness and into a deep slumber. But Elaris gently tickled his neck as he shot awake.

" Heh heh...so….are you feeling any better…? "

Clank sat there for just a few seconds until he spoke up. " I-I am still trying my hardest to reel from all this...shock… "

" Clank, it's completely fine. You just have to get those words out of your mind and it'll all be alright… "

The little robot took deep breaths and tried his hardest to let all his thoughts out at that very moment.

" T-to have such a drastic and...k-kind action be taken by Ratchet….is unbelievable...ever since he found me in the wreckage, h-he has shown me so much kindness and good will...h-he and Grimroth have given me so much...so many f-friends like Quark, Cora...a….and...you… "

Elaris smiled and nodded her head. " I know what you mean. But…..but….oh god….I have to be honest….Clank….? "

" E….Elaris…? "

" I….I spoke with Ratchet the other day…..he said his craft was….slowly breaking down… "

" H-he what?! "

" Yeah….he...he knew….he knew, yet he still decided...to….oh my god...Clank… "

Clank began to shake once more as he starting choking up in between Elaris' sentences. She herself knew she had to get this out, and so she took a deep breath.

" ….he knew his craft was breaking down, so he wanted to...get as much good things for you as he could….make it the best day of his life...and yours….but why did he…Clank...Clank… "

She stared back at the little robot for a few seconds. Clank then began to bawl extremely hard as he leaped himself into Elaris' arms. Everything was absolutely explosive in terms of everyone's emotions. There was nothing anyone could have done at this moment.

Clank whined and cried in Elaris' arms as she wiped the tears from her own eyes and gently kissed him on the forehead. She moved him away from her and wiped the tears from his eyes with her thumbs.

" Clank….this is what Ratchet would've wanted...right? A chance for you to make friends and...build relationships...and help create new bonds among each other…and have... _a family._ Isn't that right? "

Clank muffled a small, weak, " mm hm " as she pulled him back into her embrace.

Later that night, Elaris did Clank a little special favor as she tucked the poor bot into bed. Clank shifted around the covers as he whirred and moaned. Elaris giggled at the tired little guy as she crawled into bed with him. As the two were about to head off to sleep, however, a small crackling sound caught Elaris' ear.

She pulled open the blinds on the window next to the door. A huge fireworks display was being put off in the city, with several rockets bursting to reveal images of the legendary lombax and his robotic companion. Others showed pictures of each of the Rangers, even of random allies they'd made friends with along their journeys. Elaris smiled and wiped yet another tear from her eyes, slowly slipping into sleep as she held Clank close to her so he wouldn't get scared. She planted another kiss on his head and patted him so.

" Happy birthday, little guy. "

 _Hey, come on try a little_

 _Nothing is forever_

 _There's got to be something better than_

 _In the middle_

 _But me and Cinderella_

 _We put it all together_

 _We can drive it home_

 _With one headlight_

Even if Ratchet was gone...he would still linger in each other's hearts, thus pulling them closer together.

* * *

 **Thank you very much for reading this! It was kind of phoned in, but I still like the ideas I had. Who knows, maybe next year, I could flesh this out into an entire chapter-fic (FORESHADOWING).**

 **Songs used are:**

 **Oasis - Don't Go Away**

 **Ben Folds Five - Brick**

 **The Wallflowers - One Headlight**

 **Counting Crows - Round Here**

 **Gin Blossoms - Hey Jealousy**

 **Thank you very much, and I'll probably not see you next time. Who knows.**

 **\- Brendan**


End file.
